Air India plans to use 787s on more domestic routes

Air India (AI) plans to raise its capacity on domestic routes by using Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes. Currently, it uses the narrow body Airbus A320 on home routes.

Currently, it has 16 Boeing 787s and flies these to Europe, Japan, Singapore and Dubai. It also uses them on two domestic routes, Delhi-Kolkata and Delhi-Bangalore. It has 27 Boeing 787s on order and is expecting three additional planes till March 2015. It is expected to use these to ply on other metro routes.

The 787 is a long-range plane and was acquired by the government-owned carrier to replace its older Airbus A310 and to open new routes. It has had some success and the 787s have helped it generate cash profits on some hitherto loss-making European routes. However, the planes have also been plagued by snags and glitches, leading to their frequent grounding and operational delays. Also, the airline has not been able to get desired loads on its new 787 routes, to Australia, Rome-Milan and Moscow.

“The new inductions will help us to use the plane on a combination of short-haul international and domestic routes. The schedule have not been finalised,’’ said an AI source. “The 787s would be only used on metro routes for morning and evening flights. This will also enable us to compete effectively with competition and attract business customers,’’ another official added.

AI’s 787s have 256 seats each, 18 of the business class and 238 economy seats.

Currently, it has 62 Airbus family aircraft (mix of A319s, A320s and A321s), used on domestic routes and some short haul routes. AI’s domestic market share has fallen from 19.8 per cent in January to 18 per cent in July and the airline has not made additions to its fleet. It also has a shortage of Airbus A320 commanders.

Also, the airline will be facing fresh competition from the Vistara Tata-Singapore Airline domestic carrier and from AirAsia.

Also, the airline will be facing fresh competition from the Vistara Tata-Singapore Airline domestic carrier and from AirAsia.

The airline’s engineering department has raised concern over using 787s on domestic routes, as it would push up maintenance costs. Aircraft maintenance checks depend on the numbers of landings and takeoffs. Maintenance manuals require overhaul and replacement of parts after a certain number of flight cycles. The engineering department pointed out that using the plane on domestic routes will mean more landing and takeoffs in a day.

However an airline executive said the increase in engineering expense would be marginal. “The bulk of 787 capacity will come from international routes and it will be flown on limited domestic routes,’’ the executive added.